China is definitely a dancing country. About six thousands professional dancers live in Beijing alone, mostly absorbed into government supported ballet companies, or the so-called song and dance troupes featuring various folk dances, attached to working units (danwei) of government departments…
But for all these dance productions, only very few shed light on contemporary dance. This art form may not be as evident as China’s other visual arts, but it is certainly finding its own niche in the sphere of world contemporary expression. Its story, too, unravels a unique slice of the country’s post socialist culture.